Vehicles such as motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) frequently undergo performance or durability testing under harsh conditions. These conditions may include high or low temperatures, rough test courses, and long durations of continuous or nearly continuous operation of the vehicle. Frequently, these performance or durability tests are so extreme that they end up testing the driver of the vehicle more than they test the vehicle itself. For example, to properly warm up a motorcycle for such testing, it may be necessary for the driver to operate the motorcycle at slow speeds for a prolonged period of time. Since the rider will typically wear protective gear that limits cooling of the driver, and since such testing commonly takes place in desert or other warm weather locations, the test driver may only be able to endure this difficult test environment for a relatively small amount of time.
Due to the physical demands of driving a motorcycle during durability or performance testing, it is common for drivers to be able to work only a few hours before requiring rest. This can increase the costs of testing. Also, it is common for drivers of motorcycles during durability or performance testing to experience work related injuries as a result of the physical demands placed upon them. Often, motorcycle testing results in both short term and long term physical disabilities for test riders. In addition to human toll, these factors also add to the costs of testing. Further still, to adequately test electronic stability control systems or anti-lock brake systems on a motorcycle, ATV or similar vehicle, the driver may be put in significant danger, which may not be a plausible risk to incur.
To avoid the physical toll on test drivers and also to avoid the associated costs, testing such vehicles without a human driver would prove desirable in some instances. However, at very low speeds (e.g., speeds (e.g., less than ˜1 meter/second) motorcycles are very unstable, making any automated control of the motorcycle steering difficult. In this so-called “capsize mode” of operation, a human driver manipulates body position to stabilize the motorcycle. Without a human driver, such stabilization is very difficult using only steering inputs. Further, even at higher speeds (e.g., speeds greater than ˜1 meter/second), sometimes referred to as the “weave mode”, where the motorcycle is more stable due to due to its geometry, mass distribution, and gyroscope effect of the wheels, without a human driver it is difficult to test the motorcycle performance and durability in situations where a human driver would use body positioning to compensate during disturbances (e.g., wind gusts) and during normal turning, etc. The speed at which the transition from capsize to weave occurs is dependent on a vehicle mass, rake angle, wheelbase, etc.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.